Jake Wegmann -Wow. Just wow. I shudder to think of what could have happened if a bike had been there, and the barrier hadn’t. Thanks for posting.

Scott -There is a pedestrian walking (the wrong way, even) in the bike lane and motorists turning across it. Which one is the argument for protected bike lanes?

Dmitry-Scott, the pedestrian is one of the van’s occupants who was walking around examining the, uh, issue. As for the cars crossing, that’s exactly where the protected part of the Flushing lane ends (to stay in the protected part, you turn left onto Williamsburg St W).

Scott -Thanks, Dmitry. How does a cyclist continue straight on Flushing?

Dmitry-I think there is an unprotected bike lane on the other side of Flushing.

Scott -Doesn’t it cause a bit of conflict for a cyclist, traveling on the wrong side of the road, to cross the oncoming traffic lanes and the same-direction traffic lanes to reach the right side of the road and continue on his way?

It seems like an easier and safer solution would be to simply ride in the roadway with the rest of traffic.

Dmitry-If you’re going that way, then yes. The unprotected bike lane on the other side of the street runs parallel to the protected, 2-way bike lane (this is the only place I’ve seen this). So if your intent is to stay on Flushing, you wouldn’t enter the protected 2-way lane on the left side of the street anyway.